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Traditions in Dialogue: From Disc to Digital

Tuesday, October 3, 2017 - 5:30pm

126 Memorial Library, 728 State St

How does fabulous material make the journey from collector to institution to community? Join Mills Music Library Head Jeanette Casey, Music Technical Services Librarian Matt Appleby, and Mayrent Institute Assistant Director Scott A. Carter as they share their travails taking the largest private collection of Yiddish 78rpm recordings into a freely accessible digital collection. The Mayrent Collection of Yiddish Recordings is unique in its comprehensive scale and scope. Over 9,000 recorded performances on 78-rpm discs and cylinders include Yiddish theater, popular and traditional music, cantorial songs, klezmer music, poetry, drama, and event ballads from locations as diverse as the United States, Eastern Europe, Latin America, South Africa, and Israel. The contents offer an unparalleled audio entrée into the vibrant, fascinating cultural practices of early- mid 20th century Yiddish life.

The lecture is free and open to the public, and is part of a series of lectures and how-to workshops regarding the significant impact that private collections and archives can have on the community at large presented by Traditions in Dialogue: Nordic-American Communities and Their Arts in Local and Transnational Contexts. Traditions in Dialogue is a part of the Borghesi-Mellon Interdisciplinary Workshops in the Humanities, sponsored by the Center for the Humanities at the University of Wisconsin–Madison, with support from Nancy and David Borghesi and the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation.